Ceiling ventilator



Dec. 8, 1964 w. H. BRASKAMP 3,160,020

CEILING VENTILATOR Filed Jan. 23, 1961 2 ee s-Sheet 1 I. illlIIII-V Ill:

Dec. 8, 1964 w. H. BRASKAMP 3,160,020

CEILING VENTILATOR Filed Jan. 23, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 9 2 Claims. icl. 74-86) The present invention relates. to ceiling ventilators and more particularly to ceiling ventilators of the type comprising a motor and a fan driven thereby, which rotates about an axis and is adapted to undergo a rolling movement about a vertical axis.

It is contemplated in ventilators of the above type to provide a member driven by the motor which cooperates with a guiding member rigidly fitted about the vertical axis and to provide a universal joint which permits the rolling movement of the fan.

In known constructions, it is found that during the rolling operation of the ventilator, the oscillating movement of the whole ventilator gives rise to large loads on the suspension.

It is an object of the present invention to avoid the drawback of imposing excessive loads on the suspensions of ceiling ventilators which undergo oscillatory movement.

According to the invention it is a feature to provide a universal joint between the rotor of the motor and the driven shaft. The fan is rigidly mounted on the shaft, and during rolling movement, a part of the shaft located on the opposite side of the universal joint as compared with the fan is forced against a stationary guiding member.

In this way it is insured that only the fan and the corresponding shaft perform the rolling movement, which results in a minimum displacement of the center of gravity .of the ventilator, so that movement of the suspension from the ceiling is negligible. Moreover, this is accomplished without affecting the suspension of the ventilator from the ceiling.

According to a feature of the invention, the shaft may be urged against the guiding member by a weight which is provided on the shaft on the same side as the guiding member. By this measure there is obtained the additional advantage that a counterweight for balancing the weight of the fan is present. In this way a means is provided for compensating the tendency of the fan to move.

Furthermore, according to the invention, there is provided means whereby the shaft can be kept in resilient contact with the guiding member. In this way, the use of a counterweight may be avoided.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention a helical spring is mounted around the shaft and rotates with the shaft, while urging a pin in a direction away from the fan. The pin supports a further shaft which is secured in a ball and socket joint.

The invention will now be explained in greater detail with reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal cross-section through a ventilator according to the invention;

FIGURE 1a shows a detail of a portion of the device in FIG. 1, on enlarged scale.

FIGURE 2 shows a cross-section along line II-II of FIG. 1; and

Patented Dec. 8, 1964 ice FIGURE 3 shows a detail in end section of a portion of the ventilator in FIG. 1, on enlarged scale.

In FIG. 1, the numeral 1 designates the fan unit which is rigidly fitted on the shaft 2, the fan unit 1 revolving spherically about the driving motor, consisting of a stator 3 and a rotor 4. The rotor 4 is connected with the shaft 2 via the universal joint 5 located in the center of the rotor. On the other side of the universal joint, as compared with the fastening of the fan 1 on the shaft 2, is a pin-shaped extremity 7 which is urged in a manner as will be shown more fully hereinafter against a guid ng member 8 consisting of a hollow ring of friction material. The frictional contact between the extremity 7 and guiding member 8 causes the extremity 7 to move along the surface of the guiding member 8 so that an oscillatory and rotary movement of the fan unit is obtained. The universal joint consists in known manner of a ring 9, which is rigidly connected with the rotor, the rotary movement being transmitted by means of pins 11 supported in ball bearings 10 on the ring 12, which in turn transmits the rotary movement through a pin 14 supported in ball bearings 13 to the shaft 2.

The pin-shaped extremity '7 of the shaft 2 is forced against the guiding member 8 by means of a spring 16. The spring forces a ball bearing 17 against a member 18. Member 13 is provided with a ball and socket joint 20. Spring 16 exerts a force on the ball bearing 17 in a direction towards the ball joint. A pin 19 is fitted on the ball bearing 17. Member 18 is pivotably supported on the pin in a manner best seen in FIG. 3. By virtue of pin 19, member 13 and shaft 2 can be made to assume an angular position relative to one another, as seen in dotted lines in FIG. 1. Spring 16 causes displacement of the ball bearing 17 which supports pin 19 to compensate for the necessary movement of pin 19 when the member 18 and shaft 2 are inclined with respect to one another.

The shaft 2 can be maintained in the vertical position because the casing-shaped member 18 fits with a pinshaped part 21 secured thereto into the ball of the joint 20, while the surface that is subject to the pressure of the spring 1d, between the other end of the casing shaped member 18 and the upper side of the ball bearing 17, is accurately perpendicular to the axis of the shaft 2 and any lateral movement between the ball bearing 17 and the casing-shaped member 18 is prevented by means of a pin 19 fitting into a groove in the member 13. The gymtion of the fan is controlled manually by tilting the blade to cause the extremity 7 to contact the member 8.

Thus, if it is desired to operate the fan with a purely rotary movement, the pin-shaped extremity '7 is held in the member 18. Alternatively, if it is desired to operate the fan both with a rotary and a gyratory movement, the fan is stopped and the blades are manually engaged and tilted until the pin 7 contacts the member 8. Thus, by appropriate manual tilting of the blades, the ventilator may be operated with or without gyratory movement.

What is claimed is:

l. A ventilator comprising a stator element, a rotor element operatively associated with respect to said stator element to rotate with respect thereto about a determinable axis, a shaft, means connecting said shaft and rotor element together in driving relation for relative universal movement at a location on said axis, said shaft having an end projecting from said rotor, a stationary annular surface of frictional material surrounding said shaft at said end, means for retaining said shaft in an angular position relative to said axis to contact said annular surface, and a fan unit supported on said shaft at an end thereof opposite the first said end for movement with said shaft, said means for retaining said shaft in an angular position being effective to cause the first said end of the shaft to contact and move along the annular surface as said shaft rotates with said rotor whereby oscillatory and rotary movement of said fan unit is concurrently obtained, said means for retaining said shaft including a second shaft having one end supported for universal movement at a fixed location on said axis, a ball bearing body slidably supported on one of said shafts, a pin on said ball bearing body, the other of said shafts being pivotably supported on said pin and elastic means on said said one shaft and engaging said ball bearing body and urging the same towards said other of the shafts.

2. A ventilator as claimed in claim 1, wherein said elastic means consists of a spring coaxially supported on said one shaft, said spring exerting a force along said axis with said shafts axially aligned.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,456,433 5/23 Glasser 230-253 2,050,764 8/36 Rogers 230-255 2,467,562 12/48 Karleen 74-86 X 2,972,896 2/61 Braskamp 7486 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,237,808 6/60 France. 547,241 8/56 Italy.

BROUGHTON G. DURHAM, Primary Examiner. BENJAMIN BENDETT, Examiner. 

1. A VENTILATOR COMPRISING A STATOR ELEMENT, A ROTOR ELEMENT OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH RESPECT TO SAID STATOR ELEMENT TO ROTATE WITH RESPECT THERETO ABOUT A DETERMINABLE AXIS, A SHAFT, MEANS CONNECTING SAID SHAFT AND ROTOR ELEMENT TOGETHER IN DRIVING RELATION FOR RELATIVE UNIVERSAL MOVEMENT AT A LOCATION ON SAID AXIS, SAID SHAFT HAVING AN END PROJECTING FROM SAID ROTOR, A STATIONARY ANNULAR SURFACE OF FRICTIONAL MATERIAL SURROUNDING SAID SHAFT AT SAID END, MEANS FOR RETAINING SAID SHAFT IN AN ANGULAR POSITION RELATIVE TO SAID AXIS TO CONTACT SAID ANNULAR SURFACE, AND A FAN UNIT SUPPORTED ON SAID SHAFT AT AN END THEREOF OPPOSITE THE FIRST SAID END FOR MOVEMENT WITH SAID SHAFT, SAID MEANS FOR RETAINING SAID SHAFT IN AN ANGULAR POSITION BEING EFFECTIVE TO CAUSE THE FIRST SAID END OF THE SHAFT TO CONTACT AND MOVE ALONG THE ANNULAR SURFACE AS SAID SHAFT ROTATES WITH SAID ROTOR WHEREBY OSCILLATORY AND ROTARY MOVEMENT OF SAID FAN UNIT IS CONCURRENTLY OBTAINED, SAID MEANS FOR RETAINING SAID SHAFT INCLUDING A SECOND SHAFT HAVING ONE END SUPPORTED FOR UNIVERSAL MOVEMENT AT A FIXED LOCATION ON SAID AXIS, A BALL BEARING BODY SLIDABLY SUPPORTED ON ONE OF SAID SHAFTS, A PIN ON SAID BALL BEARING BODY, THE OTHER OF SAID SHAFTS BEING PIVOTABLY SUPPORTED ON SAID PIN AND ELASTIC MEANS ON SAID SAID ONE SHAFT AND ENGAGING SAID BALL BEARING BODY AND URGING THE SAME TOWARDS SAID OTHER OF THE SHAFTS. 